Friday, May 12, 2017

Debating is not for stimulating conflicts, but for brainstorming better ways to do things.

Modern CIOs face many challenges, it is not sufficient to only keep the lights on. Regardless of which industry or the nature of organization you are in, being a digital leader will need to master the art of creating unique, differentiating value from piles of commoditized technologies and take advantage of the emergent digital trends as well. Digital CIOs need to have multiple personas, “Chief Innovation Officer,” “Chief Insight Officer,” “Chief Improvement Officer,” “Chief Information Officer,” and here, we discuss CIOs as “Chief Inquisitive Officer,” with a set of Q&As to lead the digital transformation.

From Debating to Innovating

The New Book “Digital IT - 100 Q&As” Conclusion: From Debating to Innovating Modern IT organizations face many challenges. It is not sufficient to only keep the lights on. It has to brainstorm on how to do things better. The debating is a critical thinking activity which helps to build the culture of openness. Because the effective debating is tough and direct, needs to practice critical thinking, creative thinking, logic, and reasoning.

How to Gauge the Success of IT Digital TransformationAs businesses embark on the “Digital Era” of computing and managing, the digital has become ’normality,’ and almost everyone now feels at ease with digital technology, but also feels a bit overwhelming about the exponential growth of information. As the steward of information and technology in the organization, IT is always in the changing environment creating unexpected situations and requiring quick and appropriate responses based on the conditions. So how to shift IT from the reactive support function to a proactive digital engine of the company? And How to gauge the success of IT digital transformation?

The “Upward” Digital CIOs: Can you Move Up from “Working in IT” to “Working on IT”?The traditional role of CIOs is to manage information, IT systems, and cost, often within the IT as the support function. Thus, IT is perceived as a cost center to “keep the lights on” only. Many of today’s C-suites are unaware of what is technologically possible now or in the future, and how to leverage IT to unleash the full potential of the digital organization. Hence, to improve IT leadership effectiveness and maturity, today’s digital CIOs should move “upward,” from working within IT, only focus on transactional business activities and improve the bottom line efficiency, to working on IT, expand its impact across the business boundary and lead the digital transformation of the company proactively.

Is IT a Building Block or a Roadblock of Digital Transformation? Nowadays technologies make impacts on every vertical industry sector and information permeates into every corner of the organization. IT is becoming more critical strategically, but still, there are discrepancies between how IT evaluate its own influence & performance and how IT is perceived by business partners and customers. Sometimes, business partners think IT is lagging behind the change curve, and they see IT as a drag on innovation. Even IT should be the irreplaceable building block of differentiated organizational capabilities, businesses perceive IT as the roadblock. So, how can IT turn around these negative perceptions and build a strong reputation as a change agent, innovation engine and driving force of digital transformation?

Brainstorming The IT Role in Building Business Competency via Inquiries?Nowadays, information permeates into every corner of the business, it is the gold mine organizations need to dig for capturing the next business growth opportunities. Technology is often the disruptive force of digital innovation, as well as the crucial component of building the business capability. Hence, Information Technology should be seen by any business as a “digital transformer.” Here are a few inquiries to clarify IT role in building business competency and improving the organizational maturity.

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